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| CDC head warns of concerning US shift in Covid cases: 'Now is not the time to relax restrictions' – live | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Dr Rochelle Walensky says ‘latest data suggest that declines may be stalling’ and Fauci echoes call to hold off on easing health restrictions | |
| Echoing Walesky, Fauci urged the nation’s mayors and governors to hold off on easing public health restrictions. If the number of Covid-19 cases stagnates at its current level – roughly 70,000 new infections per day, it risks leaving the US vulnerable to another deadly surge. | |
| Slavitt ended the briefing on a similar note, stressing: “We are not there by a long shot. The progress we have made is better than where we were weeks ago but it is nowhere near the baseline that we need to achieve as a country.” | |
| Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged Americans to get the vaccine available to them as soon as they are eligible. | |
| He said vaccines and other public health and virus mitigation efforts are the best defense against the spread of virus variants. | |
| Despite a promising decline in Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations over the last several weeks, Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned of a “very concerning shift in the trajectory”. | |
| “The latest data suggest that these declines may be stalling, potentially leveling off at a very high number,” Walensky said, noting that the declines followed the deadliest and worst surge of the year-long pandemic. | |
| She said cases have been ticking upward over the past three days and that the most recent seven-day average is slightly higher than the seven-day average earlier this week. | |
| The data may be starting to reflect the impact of some of the virus variants, Walensky said. The CDC estimates that the B117 variant currently accounts for 10% of new cases in the US. | |
| The agency, she said, is “sounding the alarm” about the spread of variants. | |
| “Things are tenuous,” she said. “Now is not the time to relax restrictions.” | |
| Andy Slavitt, White House senior adviser for Covid-19 response, is urging the Senate to quickly take up the administration’s coronavirus stimulus package, known as the American Rescue Plan, after the House passes the bill later today. | |
| “We cannot defeat this virus as rapidly as we need to without action from Congress,” he said during a coronavirus briefing this morning. | “We cannot defeat this virus as rapidly as we need to without action from Congress,” he said during a coronavirus briefing this morning. |
| He said the bill is “critical” to re-opening schools safely, expanding genetic sequencing to detect for mutations and addressing disparities in poor and minority communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. | He said the bill is “critical” to re-opening schools safely, expanding genetic sequencing to detect for mutations and addressing disparities in poor and minority communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. |
| “This legislation will enable Americans across the country to defeat Covid-19 and get back to normal life more quickly,” he said. | “This legislation will enable Americans across the country to defeat Covid-19 and get back to normal life more quickly,” he said. |
| Any doubts that former US president Donald Trump still commands a near religious following will be dispelled by the appearance of a golden statue at a major conservative conference. | Any doubts that former US president Donald Trump still commands a near religious following will be dispelled by the appearance of a golden statue at a major conservative conference. |
| A viral video shows two men in suits pushing the kitsch monument through the corridors of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, where admirers snap photos of it.The statue is larger than life, with a golden head and Trump’s trademark suit jacket with white shirt and red tie. Bizarrely, the disgraced ex-commander in chief also appears to be sporting stars and stripes shorts.The statue is fitting because of the golden thread that runs through Trump’s career. An intelligence dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 officer, contained the salacious – and still unproven – allegation that Trump watched sex workers perform “golden showers” by urinating on each other in a Russian hotel room in 2013.In 2018, the Guggenheim Museum in New York reportedly turned down a White House request to borrow a painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh and instead offered the administration an 18-carat gold toilet – an installation by artist Maurizio Cattelan.Trump is due to give his first post-White House speech at CPAC on Sunday and there is plenty of other evidence that he remains hugely popular with this section of the Republican party.Attendees can buy $2 bumper stickers that say “Trump is my president”, “Biden is not my president”, “Trump 2024” and a picture of the 45th president with the question “Miss me yet?” One t-shirt has a picture of Trump with the slogan “Undefeated impeachment champ”; another shows Joe Biden with an Adolf Hitler-style moustache and the words “Not my dictator”.Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, got the event under way on Friday by claiming that his state’s lack of coronavirus restrictions were a success story.“We are in an oasis of freedom in a nation that’s suffering from the yoke of oppressive lockdowns,’’ he told attendees. “We look around in other parts of our country, and in far too many places, we see schools closed, businesses shuttered and lives destroyed. And while so many governors over the last year kept locking people down, Florida lifted people up.”More than 30,000 people in Florida have died from Covid-19. | A viral video shows two men in suits pushing the kitsch monument through the corridors of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, where admirers snap photos of it.The statue is larger than life, with a golden head and Trump’s trademark suit jacket with white shirt and red tie. Bizarrely, the disgraced ex-commander in chief also appears to be sporting stars and stripes shorts.The statue is fitting because of the golden thread that runs through Trump’s career. An intelligence dossier compiled by Christopher Steele, a former MI6 officer, contained the salacious – and still unproven – allegation that Trump watched sex workers perform “golden showers” by urinating on each other in a Russian hotel room in 2013.In 2018, the Guggenheim Museum in New York reportedly turned down a White House request to borrow a painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh and instead offered the administration an 18-carat gold toilet – an installation by artist Maurizio Cattelan.Trump is due to give his first post-White House speech at CPAC on Sunday and there is plenty of other evidence that he remains hugely popular with this section of the Republican party.Attendees can buy $2 bumper stickers that say “Trump is my president”, “Biden is not my president”, “Trump 2024” and a picture of the 45th president with the question “Miss me yet?” One t-shirt has a picture of Trump with the slogan “Undefeated impeachment champ”; another shows Joe Biden with an Adolf Hitler-style moustache and the words “Not my dictator”.Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, got the event under way on Friday by claiming that his state’s lack of coronavirus restrictions were a success story.“We are in an oasis of freedom in a nation that’s suffering from the yoke of oppressive lockdowns,’’ he told attendees. “We look around in other parts of our country, and in far too many places, we see schools closed, businesses shuttered and lives destroyed. And while so many governors over the last year kept locking people down, Florida lifted people up.”More than 30,000 people in Florida have died from Covid-19. |
| Joe Biden departed the White House before for Houston, where he will tour the storm-battered city after millions of Texans lost power and water last week. | Joe Biden departed the White House before for Houston, where he will tour the storm-battered city after millions of Texans lost power and water last week. |
| Holding hands with his wife, Jill Biden, the first couple took no questions as they climbed onto Marine 1 and headed to Joint Base Andrew. | Holding hands with his wife, Jill Biden, the first couple took no questions as they climbed onto Marine 1 and headed to Joint Base Andrew. |
| White House press secretary Jen Psaki is expected to brief reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after take off. | White House press secretary Jen Psaki is expected to brief reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after take off. |
| The nomination of Neera Tanden to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget is dangling by a thread, her fate seemingly resting in the hands of one Republican senator: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. | The nomination of Neera Tanden to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget is dangling by a thread, her fate seemingly resting in the hands of one Republican senator: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. |
| CNN is reporting that Murkowski, who has not announced how she plans to vote on the nomination, will meet with Tanden on Monday. | CNN is reporting that Murkowski, who has not announced how she plans to vote on the nomination, will meet with Tanden on Monday. |
| The meeting comes after Murkowski learned of a disapproving tweet by Tanden, a prolific, if problematic, tweeter whose liberal use of the platform has all but doomed her nomination. In the 2017 tweet, Tanden criticized Murkowski after the senator praised a Republican push to cut corporate taxes. | The meeting comes after Murkowski learned of a disapproving tweet by Tanden, a prolific, if problematic, tweeter whose liberal use of the platform has all but doomed her nomination. In the 2017 tweet, Tanden criticized Murkowski after the senator praised a Republican push to cut corporate taxes. |
| “No offense, but this sounds like you’re high on your own supply,” Tanden wrote. “You know, we know, and everyone knows this is all just garbage. Just stop.” | “No offense, but this sounds like you’re high on your own supply,” Tanden wrote. “You know, we know, and everyone knows this is all just garbage. Just stop.” |
| Tanden’s tweets have been at the center of the drama surrounding her nomination, with several senators pointing to her “divisive” and “overly partisan” tweets as a reason for voting against her. | Tanden’s tweets have been at the center of the drama surrounding her nomination, with several senators pointing to her “divisive” and “overly partisan” tweets as a reason for voting against her. |
| Without Murkowski’s support, Tanden’s nomination is likely all but doomed. Several moderate Republicans have announced their opposition to her confirmation, as has Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, leaving Tanden at least one vote shy of the 50 votes she needs to be confirmed. | Without Murkowski’s support, Tanden’s nomination is likely all but doomed. Several moderate Republicans have announced their opposition to her confirmation, as has Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, leaving Tanden at least one vote shy of the 50 votes she needs to be confirmed. |
| So far, the White House has stood by their nominee, pointing to her contrition and arguing that there is still a path for her. Whether that’s true may be clearer after her meeting with Murkowski on Monday. | So far, the White House has stood by their nominee, pointing to her contrition and arguing that there is still a path for her. Whether that’s true may be clearer after her meeting with Murkowski on Monday. |
| The decision by the Senate parliamentarian that the $15 minimum wage would have to be removed from the American Rescue Plan has renewed calls for senators to abolish a procedural took known as the filibuster. | The decision by the Senate parliamentarian that the $15 minimum wage would have to be removed from the American Rescue Plan has renewed calls for senators to abolish a procedural took known as the filibuster. |
| The filibuster requires a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the Senate, which is split evenly between the parties. | The filibuster requires a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the Senate, which is split evenly between the parties. |
| Democrats are using a budgetary maneuver known as reconciliation to bypass the filibuster and advance the $1.9tn rescue package on simple majority vote. But the project is subject to certain rules that limit what can be included in legislation passed through reconciliation. | Democrats are using a budgetary maneuver known as reconciliation to bypass the filibuster and advance the $1.9tn rescue package on simple majority vote. But the project is subject to certain rules that limit what can be included in legislation passed through reconciliation. |
| Democrats aren’t even sure they have 50 votes in the Senate to approve a federal minimum wage increase of $15 an hour, making it highly unlikely that a standalone measure would attract the requisite 60 votes. | Democrats aren’t even sure they have 50 votes in the Senate to approve a federal minimum wage increase of $15 an hour, making it highly unlikely that a standalone measure would attract the requisite 60 votes. |
| As such, many progressives are calling on Democrats to abolish the filibuster, which would allow the party to advance legislation with simple majorities. Partisan gridlock has already resulted in the abolishment of the filibuster for cabinet and Supreme Court nominations. | As such, many progressives are calling on Democrats to abolish the filibuster, which would allow the party to advance legislation with simple majorities. Partisan gridlock has already resulted in the abolishment of the filibuster for cabinet and Supreme Court nominations. |
| Though support for removing the filibuster is growing, Democrats currently do not have enough votes to do so. Senator Joe Manchin, one of the few moderate Democrats in the caucus, has said he is strongly opposed to eliminating the procedural tool because it forces a bipartisan consensus. | Though support for removing the filibuster is growing, Democrats currently do not have enough votes to do so. Senator Joe Manchin, one of the few moderate Democrats in the caucus, has said he is strongly opposed to eliminating the procedural tool because it forces a bipartisan consensus. |
| But progressives say the tool is an arcane relic, famously used to delay the advancement of civil rights legislation, that is standing in the way of good governance. | But progressives say the tool is an arcane relic, famously used to delay the advancement of civil rights legislation, that is standing in the way of good governance. |
| Democrats are not giving up the fight to pass a $15 minimum wage as part of the coronavirus stimulus package. | Democrats are not giving up the fight to pass a $15 minimum wage as part of the coronavirus stimulus package. |
| Senator Bernie Sanders, chair of the powerful budget committee who helped popularize calls for raising the federal minimum wage during his presidential runs, said he was considering an amendment to the bill that would remove tax deductions for big corporations that refused to pay workers at least $15 per hour, while offering incentives for smaller businesses to do so. | Senator Bernie Sanders, chair of the powerful budget committee who helped popularize calls for raising the federal minimum wage during his presidential runs, said he was considering an amendment to the bill that would remove tax deductions for big corporations that refused to pay workers at least $15 per hour, while offering incentives for smaller businesses to do so. |
| “Count me in,” said Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii. | “Count me in,” said Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii. |
| Senator Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate finance committee, said he would continue to explore all options, including a “tax penalty for mega-corporations that refuse to pay a living wage.” | Senator Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate finance committee, said he would continue to explore all options, including a “tax penalty for mega-corporations that refuse to pay a living wage.” |
| Such a provision would effectively mandate a minimum wage hike without doing so explicitly and could help bring along skeptics like Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona who said they were opposed to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. | Such a provision would effectively mandate a minimum wage hike without doing so explicitly and could help bring along skeptics like Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona who said they were opposed to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the minimum wage increase would remain in the relief bill the House is expected to pass later this evening, leaving it to the Senate to strip it from legislation later. | House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the minimum wage increase would remain in the relief bill the House is expected to pass later this evening, leaving it to the Senate to strip it from legislation later. |
| “House Democrats believe that the minimum wage hike is necessary,” she said in a statement Thursday night. “Therefore, this provision will remain in the American Rescue Plan on the Floor tomorrow.” | “House Democrats believe that the minimum wage hike is necessary,” she said in a statement Thursday night. “Therefore, this provision will remain in the American Rescue Plan on the Floor tomorrow.” |
| Go deeper: | Go deeper: |
| Robert Burns writes for the Associated Press today about the choice facing Joe Biden over Afghanistan – to withdraw all troops by May, as promised by his predecessor and risk a resurgence of extremist dangers, or stay and possibly prolong the war. | Robert Burns writes for the Associated Press today about the choice facing Joe Biden over Afghanistan – to withdraw all troops by May, as promised by his predecessor and risk a resurgence of extremist dangers, or stay and possibly prolong the war. |
| Afghanistan presents one of the new administration’s tougher and more urgent decisions. The US public is weary of a war nearly 20 years old, but pulling out now could be seen as giving the Taliban too much leverage and casting a shadow over the sacrifices made by US and coalition troops and Afghan civilians. | Afghanistan presents one of the new administration’s tougher and more urgent decisions. The US public is weary of a war nearly 20 years old, but pulling out now could be seen as giving the Taliban too much leverage and casting a shadow over the sacrifices made by US and coalition troops and Afghan civilians. |
| Biden has not commented in detail on Afghanistan since taking office. He said during the 2020 campaign that he might keep a counterterrorism force in Afghanistan but also would “end the war responsibly” to ensure US forces never have to return. | Biden has not commented in detail on Afghanistan since taking office. He said during the 2020 campaign that he might keep a counterterrorism force in Afghanistan but also would “end the war responsibly” to ensure US forces never have to return. |
| “I would bring American combat troops in Afghanistan home during my first term,” he wrote last summer in response to written questions from the Council on Foreign Relations, although the US mission there already shifted some years ago from combat to advising Afghan security forces. “Any residual US military presence in Afghanistan would be focused only on counterterrorism operations.” | “I would bring American combat troops in Afghanistan home during my first term,” he wrote last summer in response to written questions from the Council on Foreign Relations, although the US mission there already shifted some years ago from combat to advising Afghan security forces. “Any residual US military presence in Afghanistan would be focused only on counterterrorism operations.” |
| The administration says it is studying the February 2020 so-called Doha deal in which the Taliban agreed to stop attacking US and coalition forces and to start peace talks with the Kabul government, among other things, in exchange for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops by 1 May, 2021. Senior US officials have asserted for months that the Taliban has fallen short of its Doha commitments. | The administration says it is studying the February 2020 so-called Doha deal in which the Taliban agreed to stop attacking US and coalition forces and to start peace talks with the Kabul government, among other things, in exchange for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops by 1 May, 2021. Senior US officials have asserted for months that the Taliban has fallen short of its Doha commitments. |
| Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last week that he has assured US allies and partners in Afghanistan there will be no “hasty” pullout, and that Washington’s focus is on diplomacy. “Clearly, the violence is too high right now, and more progress needs to be made in the Afghan-led negotiations, and so I urge all parties to choose the path towards peace,” he told reporters. | Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last week that he has assured US allies and partners in Afghanistan there will be no “hasty” pullout, and that Washington’s focus is on diplomacy. “Clearly, the violence is too high right now, and more progress needs to be made in the Afghan-led negotiations, and so I urge all parties to choose the path towards peace,” he told reporters. |
| A further hint of the administration’s thinking may be its repeated reference to reviewing “compliance” with the Doha agreement, suggesting the possibility that the administration ultimately will argue that Taliban noncompliance makes the 1 May deadline void, or at least moveable. | A further hint of the administration’s thinking may be its repeated reference to reviewing “compliance” with the Doha agreement, suggesting the possibility that the administration ultimately will argue that Taliban noncompliance makes the 1 May deadline void, or at least moveable. |